The invention relates to a switching device for energizing a lamp, comprising a first input terminal and a second input terminal, which are to be connected to a supply-voltage source, a ballast circuit for generating a current from a supply voltage supplied by the supply-voltage source, which current flows through the lamp, a first input of the ballast circuit being connected to the first input terminal by means of a first branch comprising a fusistor, and a second input of the ballast circuit being connected to the second input terminal by means of a second branch. The invention also relates to a compact lamp.
Such a switching device is well-known. The fusistor in the known switching device protects the ballast circuit by becoming non-conducting when the current in the first branch becomes too high. Such an excessively high current may be caused, for example, by transients on the supply voltage or by a short-circuit in the ballast circuit. The operation of the fusistor is based on the fact that, in the event of too high a current, the development of heat in the fusistor leads to the melting of a fuse wire forming part of the fusistor, causing the conducting connection between the ends of the fusistor to be interrupted. The fusistor is more reliable as the current in the first branch is higher. In practice it has been found, however, that the fusistor remains conducting within a certain range of the effective value of the current in the first branch, which does lead to damage to the ballast circuit. The heat generated inside the fusistor is dissipated rapidly enough to preclude melting of the fuse wire. Since the fusistor remains conducting under these circumstances, the ballast circuit is not protected against currents that lie in the above-mentioned range.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a switching device wherein the ballast circuit is effectively protected in a very large range of the effective value of the current in the first branch.
To achieve this, a switching device of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph is characterized in accordance with the invention in that the first input and the second input of the ballast circuit are interconnected by means of a third branch, which does not form part of the ballast circuit and which comprises an NTC resistor.
The NTC resistor is dimensioned such that the third branch carries only a small amount of current during stationary operation. However, if the current in the first branch of a switching device in accordance with the invention increases, for example as a result of a temporarily comparatively high value of the supply voltage, the current in the third branch increases too. This current increase in the third branch causes the temperature of the NTC resistor to increase, as a result of which the impedance decreases. This decrease in impedance causes a further increase of the current in the third branch, as a result of which the temperature of the NTC resistor exhibits a further increase and the impedance decreases. If the value of the supply voltage still is comparatively high, this decrease of the impedance of the third branch causes the current in the fusistor to increase to a value such that the fuse wire melts and hence the fusistor becomes non-conducting.
By arranging the NTC resistor such that the temperature of the NTC resistor is influenced by the temperature of the ballast circuit, it can be achieved that also an increase of said temperature, for example caused by a defect of one of the components, causes the fusistor to become non-conducting.
The ballast circuit in a switching device in accordance with the invention preferably comprises
a rectifier for rectifying the supply voltage, and
a DC-AC converter for generating a high-frequency lamp current from the rectified supply voltage.
As such switching devices are generally embodied so as to be very compact, the temperature of the ballast circuit may increase, for various reasons, to a value which is so high that damage to components of the ballast circuit occurs. In a switching device in accordance with the invention, the ballast circuit can be protected against such a temperature by suitably arranging the NTC resistor.
For the reason mentioned hereinabove, a switching device in accordance with the invention can also very suitably be used in the electronic ballast of a compact lamp comprising
a light-transmitting discharge vessel provided with an inert gas-containing filling and two electrodes,
a lamp housing secured to the discharge vessel,
a lamp cap which is provided with electrical contacts and secured to the lamp housing,
and an electronic ballast coupled between the electrodes and the contacts for generating a lamp current from a supply voltage.
As the switching device must be embodied so as to be very compact, and the switching device is accommodated in a housing in the form of the lamp housing, it is very necessary to effectively protect the switching device against excessively high temperatures.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiment(s) described hereinafter.